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NHL Cancels Games Through December 30

December 10th, 2012 at 5:33 PM By Frank Vajcner

Detroit Red Wings fans can forget about watching the Red Wings play in 2012, barring a miracle deal being struck.

The NHL canceled another 104 games Monday due to the lockout, bringing the season total to 526 games lost.

The following Red Wings games were canceled:

December 15 at Nashville

December 18 vs Los Angeles

December 20 vs New York Islanders

December 22 vs Columbus

December 26 at Carolina

December 27 at Pittsburgh

December 29 at Ottawa

Right now, the Red Wings next scheduled game is January 4 vs. Nashville. Should a new CBA be agreed to in the immediate future, the NHL regular season would begin December 31. The Red Wings would likely open on the road, as The Zac Brown Band is playing a concert at Joe Louis Arena that night.

The NHL and NHLPA appeared to be close to striking a deal last week, but once again, talks fell apart. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that the league needs to have a minimum 48 regular season games to save this season.

"When it gets to the point where we can't play a season with integrity, with a representative schedule, then we'll be done," Bettman said. "If you go back in history, in '94-95 I think we played 48 games. I can't imagine wanting to play fewer than that."

When the NHL held a 48-game season following the 1994-95 lockout, a deal was reached on January 11, and the season began January 20. The regular season ended May 3, and the Stanley Cup was awarded June 24; due to four series sweeps in the last seven playoff series.

For the NHL to at least get a 48-game regular season schedule, a deal will likely have to be done by Christmas, unless either side won't mind possibly playing into July.

Six players have had their jersey numbers retired by the organization. (Sid Abel, #12; Gordie Howe, #9; Ted Lindsay, #7; Terry Sawchuk, #1; Alex Delvecchio, #10; and Steve Yzerman, #19.) Nicklas Lidstrom will be the next in line to have his number 5 raised to the rafters.